Behind Red Tinted Eyes
by CloudStrife1992
Summary: A train derailment in Tokyo leads Izaya to meet the only person who can keep up with him. When he tries to make her part of his game, she only laughs and pats him on the back. But maybe that's because she's already running for her life. IzayaXOC
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Comments:**_

**NOTE: As of chapter 4, I've switched this story to first person. I'll be replacing chapter 1-3 with first-person versions in the next couple of weeks, hopefully. Most of what happens will stay the same, though there might be little changes here and there.**

First of all, there is a high likelyhood this story won't be finished. I'm really bad at finishing stories. That said, I love this story so far and I really want to finish it.

No non-canon pairings in this, except for the IzayaXOC mentioned in the description.

So that's that. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**_Chapter 1:_**

Usually Izaya managed to dodge the array of flying objects bound to be chucked in his direction whenever he visited Ikebukuro. This time, however, he ended up sprawled on the sidewalk, wondering if Shizuo had intentionally aimed the sharpest corner of today's vending machine at his stomach. He doubted it; Shizu-chan didn't put a lot of effort into his aim.

He gasped a few times, trying to get his breath back as he stood and faced the tall blond man marching in his direction. Shizuo looked rather smug at having landed a hit.

"Shizu-chan! I think your aim is improving." Izaya offered the blond a smirk. He mentally cataloged his injuries; scrapes to the side of his face, bruises, a slight headache, and a sprained right wrist. Well, he wasn't planning on fighting back with his flickblade today anyway. Things were getting interesting again, and he didn't want to waste time fighting Shizu-chan.

The screech of metal and the crumble of concrete drowned out Shizuo's mutters of "I'll kill you, Izaya..." and "get out of Ikebukuro!" for a few moments.

Five seconds later, the only options were to run or be impaled by a stop sign.

Well, time to run.

* * *

_Setton-san has entered the chat._

**_Tanaka-Taro:_** Setton, good evening.

**_Bakyura:_ **Good evening, Setton!

_**Setton:**_ Good evening Byakura, Tanaka-Taro.

_**Setton:**_ Have you heard about the train wreck yet?

_**Bakyura:**_ A train wreck?

_**Tanaka-Taro:**_ No, I haven't. When was it?

_**Setton:**_ A couple of hours ago, around 4:00pm.

_**Setton:**_ A shinkansen derailed just outside of Tokyo Station.

_**Tanaka-Taro:**_ In Tokyo!

_**Bakyura:**_ A shinkansen? Damn.

_**Tanaka-Taro: **_So that's why the streets were quiet on the walk home from school today.

_**Tanaka-Taro:**_ Do they know what caused it yet?

_**Setton:**_ No, but they don't think it was an accident.

_**Setton:**_ You probably already know this, but the shinkansen has only had one derailment before, and even that was only because of an earchquake.

_**Setton:**_ I gotta go; door bell.

_**Bakyura:**_ Thanks for the news, Setton.

_**Setton:**_ No problem. Be careful, you two.

**_Tanaka-Taro:_** Thanks, we will.

_Setton-san has left the chat._

Celty closed out of the chat, then picked up her helmet and slipped it on as she went to the door.

Izaya was waiting on the other side.

She stood with the door half-open, a hand on the doorknob, and stared silently at the information dealer.

After several moments, Izaya sighed and raised an eyebrow. "Not that I mind the attention, but are you just going to stand there all night?"

The shadows coming out of her neck in place of her head billowed out for a moment in a sigh. She brought out her PDA, typed on it, and showed it to him. 'You're injured.'

"Obviously." He spread his jacket out wide, his hands in the pockets. "But I suppose you want to know _why_ I'm injured. If you must know, I ran into Shizu-chan on the way here."

She held out the PDA again. 'And he managed to land a hit? That doesn't happen often.'

"More specifically, he landed a vending machine full of ramen on me, but the injuries aren't why I'm here." Izaya waved a hand, dismissing that topic. "Shizu-chan managed to catch me because I was distracted. The reason I was distracted just happens to be the same reason I am now standing on your doorstep. Can I come in?"

Celty hesitated a moment. She was probably one of the few people who could call Izaya their friend, if they felt like it, though she generally didn't. It wasn't a matter of proximity. Being around Izaya didn't increase someone's chances of becoming part of his game; everyone was already, no matter who they were or what they meant to him. That didn't stop her from feeling bitter about all the damage he'd done. As far as she was concerned, they were acquaintances who got along when they needed to. Apparently, now was one of those time.

She flashed her PDA at him as she turned and walked back toward the living room. 'Fine. Get in.'

She heard Izaya chuckle behind her as he stepped inside. She noted he didn't bother to remove his shoes.

'Close the door behind you.'

"Alright, alright," he held his hands up, then closed the door and returned his hands to their pockets. "Is Shinra here?"

She leaned against the wall at the end of the hallway as she typed out her response. "He's working late tonight." She pulled it back and typed out another sentence. "So why are you here?"

To her surprise, he got right to the point, "You've heard about the train wreck, I assume?"

'Yes.' She pulled off her helmet and set it on the side table next to the couch.

"Get on the computer and go to youtube."

She paused half-way to the computer. 'Youtube?'

He gave her a dry look. "Yes, you know... that website with billions of videos that anyone with internet access knows about."

She ignored him and just went to the computer. He stepped in after her. Once the website had loaded, he leaned forward and typed 'Tokyo train wreck' into the search bar. Celty tried not to be irritated that he hadn't asked to touch her laptop.

He scrolled down a little, clicked on a video, then stood back. "Watch carefully."

Celty's shadows shifted uncomfortably as the video started. She didn't want to watch the wreck happen, hearing about it was bad enough, but Izaya wouldn't be showing it to her unless there was something important to see.

Luckily there was no sound, so she was spared the screams that must have been everywhere. She cringed as the train fell sixty feet from the elevated tracks, as people closest to it ran for their lives, as others stared in horror...

Then she stiffened. Not waiting for the video to finish, she dragged it back ten seconds and leaned in closer. Yes, she _had_ seen it. Just before the train hit the ground, one of it's windows was smashed out. A blurred figure jumped out, then it was gone.

She played it again to be sure, then leaned back in her chair and stared at the screen.

"So? What do you think of that, dullahan?" Izaya asked after a moment. He was leaning against the desk now, arms crossed and looking a little amused, but he wasn't smirking. If anything, he looked honestly intrigued.

She gazed at him for a moment, then brought out her PDA. 'Why did you show me that?'

"Do I need to have a reason?" He brought his hands up to the sides in an exaggerated shrug. "Couldn't I just be showing it to you because I thought you might be interested?"

'Don't play dumb with me. You always have reasons.'

A bit of his usual smirk returned at that. "I showed it to you because I don't know what's going on, and I don't like not having all the information. I thought you might have some to share."

'And if I do? What makes you think I'll tell you?'

"It's an equal exchange of information, is it not? I show you the video, you tell me how someone jumped out of a falling train and vanished."

She paused. Her shadows shifted. 'What are you planning?' she asked.

"At this point? Nothing. I simply want to know because I want to know everything."

'That doesn't make me feel any better.'

She shook his head, as if disappointed, though he wasn't bothering to hide his grin. "You can't please everyone."

She hesitated for another moment, then gave in. She leaned toward the computer, brought up a blank word-processing document, then typed out, 'Fine. I can't be sure, since the video isn't the best quality, but whoever that was, I doubt they're human. Beings like me, fae, some of us can do something a bit like teleporting. I don't know the specifics of the technique though; it's not one of my specialties.' If she had her head, she might know more, but she was already uncomfortable enough telling him as much as she just had. She wasn't about to give him any incentive to ask her for more. Even if she was still looking for her head, she didn't want him to be the one helping her find it.

Izaya tilted his head to the side. "Interesting, very interesting..."

Her shadows puffed irritably. 'I thought you were only interested in humans.'

He laughed. "Because humans are interesting. At first glance they don't look like much, but if you look closer, they're more amazing than any magic-using non-human could ever be. But this non-human has managed to interest me, so I'm intrigued."

Celty turned her chair to face him and asked with her PDA, 'Is there anything else you need from me before you go?'

"Oh, Celty, so eager to have me gone, are you? I'm hurt. Devastated!" He clapped a hand to his heart and dropped his head. The dark bangs hanging over his face didn't quite obscure his amused smirk.

She crossed her arms. 'Be glad Shinra isn't here.'

"Oh, but I wish he was. Teasing you is so much more fun with him around." He chuckled for a moment, then his expression turned unusually serious. "Aren't you curious though? Why is there another faerie here?"

'I suppose I'm a little curious,' she said, a little reluctantly, then turned back to her computer to type. 'But even if I'm right about he or she not being human, they may not be a faerie either. There are other kinds of non-humans. It's more likely that this one is a kami.'

"A kami, eh? So they actually exist too?"

'Wouldn't you think so, seeing as you know a faerie and a girl who controls a demon sword?'

"Ah, but an informant never assumes. It'd be the same as feeding myself false information. Terrible for business, you know." He straightened and slipped his hands into their pockets again. "I can see you want me gone. I appreciate the information, Celty; things were getting boring around here."

Celty didn't want to think about what that might mean for Ikebukuro this time around.

Izaya walked out of the office, disappearing around the corner for a moment before he leaned back in and said, "I'll let you know what I find."

She stood and held out her PDA. 'Thanks, I appreciate it.' Then she typed something else. 'as long as I don't owe you anything for it, that is.'

He only chuckled at that.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Comments:**_

In relation to chapter one: I'm pretty sure there aren't actually any elevated tracks at Tokyo Station, but I didn't feel like coming up with another way of writing that scene, so yeah. *is shot for laziness*

Here's chapter two. This one introduces the main OC. I'm in the middle of writing chapter 3. (But don't expect updates this often. I already had this one written when I posted the first one ^^')

So... enjoy? And if you think any character is OOC, feel free to let me know. Though I think my version of Izaya tends to be a little less creepy and outwardly cruel as some other fanfics.

* * *

_**Chapter 2:**_

Edna sat amidst dumpsters in a quiet alley near the site of the train wreck. She couldn't be sure if the trackers thought she'd died or not. The safest thing to do would be to hide and wait a couple of weeks.

But no, she'd come back. She'd come back because she felt guilty, no matter how much she tried to tell herself it wasn't her fault. Blaming herself wouldn't get her anywhere. But still... so many people had died. They'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being near her was the wrong place and the wrong time for anyone. It would be until the Ceannas decided to accept her.

And her father, for that matter.

She pulled out her switch blade, running her fingers along the dragon-scales etched into the handle. She could still remember her father's calloused hands working with practiced skill as he carved it.

A voice caught her attention outside the alley. She slipped the knife back into her pocket and peeked around the dumpster to her right. A man in a black fur-rimmed coat was talking to a police officer. She man gave off a charming and innocent yet respectfully grim air, appropriate for the scene only a block away, but his eyes were darting around as if he was looking for something.

Edna pulled her head back and listened intently, wishing she could understand more Japanese. She'd never seen this man before, and he looked and sounded Japanese to her, but there were shapeshifters among the trackers. Not to mention many of them spoke a dozen different languages. Still, they'd never talked to humans before to try to find her, and this man's tone seemed simply curious.

But if this _was_ a new trick of theirs, she wasn't going to let it sneak up on her.

The man raised his hand in farewell and walked away from the policeman and the remains of the train wreck. Edna stepped out of her hiding place and silently moved out toward the street. Nearly a year of running from fae had made her good at not being seen.

Once out on the street, she adopted the air of an excited tourist. She grinned and gaped at the city around her, stopping at storefronts and starting at the merchandise on display, all the while never taking her eyes off of the man with the fur-rimmed coat. Following him was a risk, but it was one she was willing to take.

She kept an eye out for other people who were giving her too much attention too. For the most part people ignored her, or gaze her glances that said "she's definitely a tourist". That only made her more confident.

About five blocks from the alley, the man turned. She'd been staying about half a block behind him, and she tried to keep herself from jogging to catch up. She was worried she'd lose him, but she didn't want to make it more obvious that she was following him. Once she reached the turn, she spotted him easily enough and gave a relieved sigh.

Another three blocks, he turned again. Edna found him again, though not quite as easily as the first time. It took her a minute to spot him among the crowds.

But one block after that, he took off like a bullet.

She stopped, rooted to the spot. That was no lazy jog, that was an all out dash. She looked around, trying to convince herself that something else must have sent him running. But no, there was nothing.

So he'd seen her? But she hadn't seen him look back once.

What should she do? Stay where she was? Go back the way she came? Keep going? Should she try to find him again or just keep walking to make it seem like she wasn't following him? Not like that would help much. Just by standing there frozen she was practically yelling, "Oh no! You saw me following you!".

She took a deep breath and decided to find a store to hang out in for a half hour or so. Hopefully by the time she left it would be safe enough for her to find a place to hide.

Because if he _had_ noticed her following him, among all the other people around him, he was definitely a tracker.

* * *

"So you think there's a non-human behind the train wreck yesterday?" Shinra asked, setting a cup of tea down on the coffee table as he joined Celty on the couch.

Celty's shadows gave her equivalent of a nod as her stump of a neck tilted down a little. She'd intended to talk to Shinra the previous night, but she'd been too tired to wait for him to get home. It was around ten in the morning now, but she'd only just gotten up. She'd had trouble sleeping, despite her exhaustion.

Shinra took a sip of his tea as he considered her statement. "What reasons might a faerie have to wreck a train full of civilians, though?"

She shrugged, then leaned forward and typed into her laptop, which she'd brought out onto the coffee table. 'No idea. Some fae get a thrill out of hurting humans, but they'd rarely do something so obvious, and they usually don't like actually killing humans. Fae generally prefer not to draw attention to themselves.' She paused, then added, 'I told Izaya it was probably a kami, but to be honest, that wouldn't really make sense either.'

"It wouldn't?"

'Kami are masters of disguise. A human who knows what to look for can recognize a faerie or tell when a faerie is behind something, but with kami it's much harder. Even I've never been able to be sure if someone is a kami or not. That person on the video was far too obvious for a kami.'

Shinra took another sip of his tea and cocked his head. "Are there any other kinds of non-human it could be?"

'Not really.' She gave her equivalent of a sigh. 'Many regions around the world have their own non-human species, but the kami and fae are the two largest. The others are very unorganized and rarely leave their homelands.'

"But are you sure this person isn't human? Don't you think someone could have edited the video as a prank?"

'Not completely sure, no, but I know the video wasn't edited. It was put on youtube fifteen minutes after the accident.'

The phone rang then, and Shinra went to answer it. She was too lost in thought to listen to his conversation.

"Got work for you," he said, walking back over after a few minutes and handing her the piece of paper.

She glanced at it, then did a double take. 'Izaya needs me for something?' she typed quickly, surprised. Izaya hadn't hired her since the Dollars and Yellow Scarves incident six months earlier.

"Yep, or as he put it: 'Got a job I'm sure Celty would be happy to take on; would you mind sending her over immediately?'" his attempt at impersonating Izaya failed quite miserably, but Celty wasn't in the mood to laugh. "You think he found something?" Shinra asked after a moment.

'Already? That's hard to believe, even for him.' She pulled the PDA back and typed, 'Though I have to admit, it sounds like he has.'

"Are you going?"

She gave her equivalent of a sigh. 'Yeah. He'd better pay me though. Asking me to drive all the way over to Chiyoda doesn't count as him doing me a favor.'

Shinra chuckled. "Then take care, my dearest Celty," he gave her an overly dramatic and graceless bow. "I shall mourn your departure and await... omph." His tirade was cut short by a sharp jab to the stomach. He coughed once. "Okay, okay." he said, then sat down on the couch next to Celty and put a hand on one of hers, his expression suddenly serious. "But really, be careful out there."

She put her other hand on the one he had over hers for a moment, then typed, 'don't worry, I'll be fine. And anyway, I'm not convinced the non-human we're dealing with is malicious.'

He smiled. "Let's hope it isn't. Just be careful."

'I will.'

* * *

**_Author's Comments:_**

Chiyoda is the ward of Tokyo that contains Tokyo Station, the National Diet Building, and the Imperial palace. It's south-east from Ikebukuro, and due east from Shinjuku, if you're curious.

Ugh, I feel like I'm horrible at writing Shinra's personality. *headdesk* Oh well. I'll improve. Hopefully...

I'm hoping my chapters will get a little longer after this one. Be prepared for some really unpredictable chapter lengths though. Anything from 500 words to 5,000 is possible from me.

Wheee! The next chapter is going to be fun! (I hope)

Also, this story has not been beta'd. I'm not looking for something to beta it, but if you do see any typos or continuity errors, feel free to let me know. I'll do my best to fix them.

Thanks to everyone who added this story to their favorites and alerts so far!**_  
_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Comments:**_

Yay, longer chapter! 8D

Ugh, I feel like my own OC is a little OOC though. Oh well. Her personality is still coming to me. I think she really starts to shine through a bit at the end of this chapter though.

I hope you don't mind me switching between points of view so often. I feel it helps me get their personalities right, and keeps me from introducing new information at the wrong times.

Ah, also, this story is based about 90% on the anime series canon. I've read a translation of the 4th novel, and am currently reading the 5th, so some things from the novels will be added. Only thing so far is Celty calling her horse Shooter. Mairu and Kururi will probably appear at some point too.

* * *

_**Chapter 3:**_

Half an hour later, Celty pulled up to a street corner in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, just a few blocks from the train wreck.

Izaya sent a quick glance into the store he was standing by to be sure the girl was still there, then trotted over to talk to Celty.

'So what did you find?' she asked as he reached her.

"I actually didn't find anything." He chuckled, hands in his pockets as he looked back toward the store. "Something, or should I say, someone, found me."

'Who?'

He turned back to her, the corner of his mouth curving up in a slight smirk. "The person who jumped out of the train and vanished."

Her fingers froze on the keypad. She was obviously staring at him, despite her lack of physical eyes.

Izaya continued before she got her hand coordination back. "Female, appears to be about 20 years old, about five-foot-six, wavy shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, does not appear the least bit Japanese, though she does look quite human. I half-expected her to be headless, I have to admit."

'But how do you know she's the same person?' Celty asked, ignoring his half-hidden taunt about headlessness. 'And what do you mean, she found you?'

He shrugged. "I went to the site of the train wreck to see if I could learn anything. I ended up getting stopped by a cop, so I turned back, intending to loop back around and sneak in, but as I was walking away I spotted the girl following me."

'What were you doing to make her want to follow you?'

He shrugged. "No idea, but I plan to ask her."

She gazed at him for a moment, then asked, 'So what am I here?'

His smirk widened and he turned once again to look at the store. The more he thought about this girl, the more he couldn't wait to figure out how she ticked. "I want you to help me catch her."

* * *

Edna wasn't sure if she was enjoying looking at manga. She wasn't bored, though that was more because of her fear of getting caught by the trackers. Not that she expected manga to make that go away.

Sighing, she put a manga she'd been looking at back on the shelf. She really didn't like cities, let alone a metropolis the size of Tokyo. The shelves in this store were stuffed so close together that she was having a hard time moving around without knocking everything over. She felt cramped and she couldn't wait to leave. She looked at her watch, trying to decide if it enough time had passed since she'd tried to follow that tracker. If it had been an option, she would have left the city and gone back to the small towns and the rolling, rocky hills that she loved. But even if she could have left the city, she wouldn't be able to go back to those hills.

Back home.

She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to think about that. She had to hide from the trackers and find a safe place to try to figure out where her father had gone. It had taken her two years to find out he was in Japan. She was getting closer, but so were the trackers. They'd almost gotten her this time.

Edna shuddered at the memory of the train wreck. It would haunt her for the rest of her life, she knew, but right now, other things were more important than self-pity and guilt.

She glanced at her watch again. 10:35 am. It'd been about a half hour. It was probably safe.

She pulled her jacked tighter around her and put up the hood, then walked out onto the sidewalk.

Where should she go? A park? She might be able to spend the night in one, but she wasn't sure where one was, other than the imperial palace, and she highly doubted she'd be able to sneak in there and sleep. A hotel would be safer, but she didn't want to use the money. She already felt sick at how much money she'd had to steal to get to Tokyo.

She absently fingered the switchblade in her pocket as she made her way down the street. She decided to head west; she knew there was more city in that direction. Not something she liked, but it would help keep her hidden. Enduring the city was better than getting caught by fae whohated her even more than she hated Tokyo.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, an uneasy feeling crawled up the back of her neck. Intuition. It was something she'd learned to trust early on in her career of running for her life, and right now it was screaming at her. She listened carefully, not slowing or speeding her pace and not looking behind her. Her grip tightened on her switchblade, thumb poised over the button.

An unearthly whinny drifted toward her.

No.

_No!_

She'd heard that sound once before, in the hills of Ireland when she'd first had to run for her life.

Forgetting any attempt at disguising herself, she dashed into the nearest alley and shrank into the shadows. She brought out her switchblade, though she knew it'd do no good against one of _them_.

Did the Ceannas really want her dead that badly?

It sped by her then, a sleek black motorcycle with a rider just as graceful. The woman wore a yellow and blue helmet, which was twisting around, looking for something.

She was sure that something was her.

But the bike sped past without slowing. She'd learned fae couldn't sense her, but she hadn't known if the rider had spotted her before she ducked into the alley. Edna felt her heart relax a little.

Until she heard the chuckle behind her.

"Well that was far too easy."

She was only frozen for a second. She spun around, using all her speed, opening her blade and bringing it out in front of her in the same movement. The momentum swept the hood off her head.

She hadn't recognized the voice immediately, because he'd spoken in English and not Japanese, but as soon as she saw him, it was all she could do to hold her ground.

Raven hair.

Red-brown eyes.

Fur-lined black coat.

The man she'd been following not an hour earlier was now standing before her, smirking, looking smug and relaxed as he pointed a flickblade at her throat.

* * *

Honestly, Izaya had expected the girl to be a little harder to catch. She'd done a pretty good job of following him earlier; someone else might not have noticed the red-haired tourist who seemed a little too enthusiastic. But just a slight spook from Celty had sent her running into the alley. He'd meant for Celty's drive-by to be a test of this girl's character and knowledge; this was an unexpected bonus.

He studied her for a minute, taking in the wild look in her eyes, like a dear caught in the headlights. He may have been disappointed that she was so easy to catch, but that look in her eyes only made him want to know more about her. She'd moved unexpectedly fast when he'd announced his presence. She was probably capable of moving as fast as he could.

So she definitely had some fighting experience, or at least evasion experience, and she'd obviously had some idea what Celty was. Yet she was terrified of something, or someone, probably other than him.

Interesting.

"Do you speak Japanese or should I keep speaking English?" he asked. He'd always prided himself on his skill with languages. It was part of what made him so good at gathering information.

She didn't respond, so he raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Tongue-tied, are we? Well, I'll take silence as a no; we're sticking with English. I want to know why you were following me earlier."

The wild fear in her eyes was lessening, being replaced by confusion and something like determination. Was she planning something?

"Who are you?" She asked. He was impressed at how even her voice was, though it did wobble a little.

"Ah, ah, you're answering my questions first," he said, flicking his blade to the side a little. It wasn't a threatening gesture, but it still made her twitch away from him. His grin widened. "Tell me your name. We'll start with that. Maybe I'll give you mine in return."

He could see the wheels turning behind her blue-gray eyes. The determination in them was growing stronger. Was she going to try to make a run for it? Or try to fight him? Maybe she'd go with him and try to sneak away.

"Elizabeth Martin." She said after a minute. "Yours?"

He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment. The lie wasn't bad, but her voice sounded just a little too eager. "Sorry, I don't buy it. Try again."

She stiffened. Not two seconds later, she dashed to the side and leaped up onto a dumpster. He lunged for her foot, but to his surprise, he missed.

Damn, she _was_ fast. And skilled in parkour, apparently, from the way she was now leaping over a fence and running for the far end of the alley. He hated to admit it, but he'd underestimated her physical abilities.

He folded his knife and let it slide up into his sleeve as he leaped up onto the dumpster and stared after her.

If only Shizu-chan hadn't managed to land a vending machine on him the day before. His wrist still hurt, and he couldn't move as fast as usual.

A wry grin spread across his face. How unusual for him to be the one doing the chasing.

* * *

So there was another fae in Tokyo. Izaya's description of her definitely sounded Irish or Scottish.

Celty traced her fingers over Shooter's handlebars, more in an attempt to calm herself than as an offer of affection. The headless-horse-turned-motorcycle nickered quietly in response anyway, and if she'd head a head, she would have smiled.

Celty had been hesitant to agree to Izaya's plan to catch the girl. She didn't want Izaya ruining this girl's life, like he had with so many other people. She shifted uncomfortably, trying not to think about the chance of the girl being evil. There was every chance she was, but Celty didn't want her to be. The chance of meeting another faerie after so many years was making her long for her homeland. It had been years since she'd missed it so much. She wasn't alone in Japan, and she didn't mind being a fae among humans anymore, but that didn't keep her from missing her own kind. Sure, she didn't have many memories of the fae in Ireland, but that only made her want to talk to this girl more.

She felt like she didn't know what it meant to be fae.

Shooter gave an anxious snort, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked over the edge of the building into the alley. The girl was dashing along the length of it, the equally fast and agile form of Izaya following behind.

Spinning Shooter around to run parallel to the edge of the roof, Celty sent her shadows ahead to block the end of the alley. She sped down the side of the building and slid to a stop about ten feet from the girl. Eyes wide and terrified, the girl turned to face them, her back against the wall of shadow now blocking her exit as she held a knife toward them at arm's length.

Celty couldn't sense anything from her. She didn't feel like a faerie, and yet if the terrified expression she was aiming at Celty was anything to go by, she knew what a dullahan was.

Izaya came running up beside Celty, not the least bit out of breath. He slipped his hands in his coat pockets and gave her a sideways smirk. "Nice catch, courier."

'Don't talk like she's prey to be caught.' she flashed the PDA at Izaya irritably, knowing that was probably exactly what he thought of her as. 'Stand back, Izaya, let me talk to her. I think you've scared her enough,' she stepped off of her horse onto the cracked pavement.

Izaya chuckled. "I don't think she speaks Japanese, unless she's just refusing to speak it." He said, then glanced at Celty with a quirked brow. "You _can_ speak English, I assume?"

'Yes, though it's been a while,' Celty gave him a moment to read, then pulled the PDA back and quickly switched the language to English. She moved toward the girl as she started to type, but stopped when the girl flinched and took a step back. Whoever this girl was, she wasn't evil. That much was obvious now. Celty felt relief mix with guilt as she held out the PDA, 'I'm sorry, I don't mean to frighten you. I just want to talk.'

The girl's eyes darted to the PDA, then back to Celty's helmet. She looked at the PDA again, longer this time.

After a few moments Celty pulled it back and typed, 'do you know what I am?'

The girl stared at her for a few moments, then gave a slight nod.

Celty pulled the PDA back, steeled herself for the next answer, then asked, 'are you fae?'

The girl didn't respond, but her eyes widened. Something in her stance changed. She kept the knife up, but there was a little curiosity on her eyes now.

Celty risked taking another step forward and this time the girl didn't back away. 'My name is Celty Struluson,' she said. "I'm from Ireland, but I've lived in Tokyo for the last twenty-one years. I don't mean you any harm, I'm simply curious why you're here.' She gave the girl a minute to read, then pulled it back and typed, 'if you need a place to stay, you can stay with my roommate and I.'

The girl glanced at Izaya and Celty's shoulders shook in a silent laugh. She hastily typed, 'No, no, this guy isn't my roommate, don't worry.' She pulled it back, pausing for a moment. 'Also, I'm sorry if he scared you. He's not exactly a bad guy, though he's far from good. It's complicated. I'll explain later.'

"If only the world realized the same applies to everyone." Izaya said brightly. He'd been leaning forward and reading her PDA from the side, hands clasped behind his back and balancing elegantly with most of his weight on one foot.

Celty ignored him. 'Would you mind telling us your name?' she asked the girl.

The girl examined Izaya for a moment, then looked back to Celty and seemed to come to a decision. She folded her knife and faced them with sudden confidence. She still looked wary, but the fear was gone. "Why aren't you trying to kill me, dullahan?" She asked.

Celty nearly dropped her PDA. 'Kill you? Why would I be trying to kill you?' she asked. She noticed that Izaya suddenly looked entirely too interested.

The girl sighed and slipped her knife into her pocket. "I'm Edna Finley," she said, then fixed them with a cold stare. "I've only known two faeries who were kind to me. One disappeared, the other was murdered. Any human who has helped me is also dead, and many others were killed simply because I was nearby. Are you still sure you want to help me?"

* * *

**_Author's Comments:_**

Yessss, that was fun to write.

Next chapter will hopefully have some other characters in it. Not sure who yet. I really need to do a bit of planning ahead for this story.

Also, if Celty randomly does something like sigh or shake her head when she isn't wearing a helmet, let me know. I caught myself writing things like that a few times. _


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Comments:**_

First of all, I've decided to switch this story from third to first person. This chapter just refused to be written in third, and I do think I write better in first anyway, even though I don't generally use it. I hope you all don't mind the change.

I'll be re-writing the first three chapters in first person in the next couple of weeks, hopefully. I was going to wait to post this chapter until they were done, but I decided that was taking too long. So here you go.

Oh! And I can't believe I forgot the disclaimer until this chapter! I don't own Durarara! or any of it's characters. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and for that of others.

I'm still trying to figure out the plot for this story... I think it'll just evolve as I go. I have a bunch of scenes between Izaya and Edna planned in my head, but I'm not really sure about the actual plot. So, you have my apologies ahead of time for a sometimes meandering plot.

* * *

_**Chapter 4:**_

"Are you still sure you want to help me?"

I didn't really know what else to say to them.

Not that I trusted them. The man seemed to be enjoying himself far too much, and I could see his fingers playing with the flick blade now hidden in his coat pocket. Not to mention the _dullahan, _for crying out loud, standing not ten feet away from me. The fact that she wasn't trying to slash me to pieces made me more wary, but also extremely curious.

But on the slim chance this faerie, and whoever or whatever the other guy was, really didn't know who I was and were actually trying to help me, I felt I needed to give them a warning. I couldn't afford to refuse any help that was willingly offered, even if they might get killed by being near me. I was desperate enough to risk other people's lives for my own sake. Still, no matter how much I needed their help, I wasn't going to let them be killed without knowing what they'd gotten themselves into.

As I stood there waiting for their answers, I could only hope hope they wouldn't back out.

They didn't.

After a few moments of silence, man in the fur-rimmed coat burst into laughter.

Unsure whether this was a cue to run for my life or slam a palm into my forehead, I settled for asking, "what the hell are you laughing about?"

His brown eyes flashed crimson in the sunlight peeking into the alley as he hugged his stomach, trying to control his mirth. The dullahan had taken a step back from him and seemed to be staring at him, just as surprised as I was; I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

The man waved a hand in my general direction, finally getting his breath back. "It's just... this is getting really good already. I wasn't expecting that little speech. Well done, well done!" He gave a short clap, as if I were putting on a show. Still chuckling, he straightened and turned to the dullahan. "What do you say? Still willing to hang around this girl after that warning?"

The dullahan stood still for a few moments, then said something to him via the PDA that I couldn't read from my angle. He gave a short chuckle, then the dullahan turned to me and asked, '_do_ you need a place to stay?'

I nodded.

She started to type something else, but the man sighed and spoke first, "I'm getting a little tired of this alley. Might we go somewhere else to talk, and worry about this later? It's a bit early in the day to be making sleeping arrangements."

The dullahan hesitated, then nodded and moved an arm in a controlled, yet lazy gesture. The shadow wall behind me melted away and I turned to look out toward the street. I could run away now, and probably manage to get away. The idea was tempting, but I stayed where I was. For one, I didn't want to bring that much attention to myself. If a dullahan was chasing me through the streets, the trackers definitely would notice. And two, I might actually have a chance at getting some help from these two.

As I glanced back to them over my shoulder, I saw the man watching me carefully, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Expecting me to run, were you?" I asked, almost dryly.

The smirk, which had been cemented onto his face since my "little speech", widened. "It was a likely possibility," he said.

"So what _is_ your name?" I asked, turning back to fully face him as I crossed my arms. "I've given you mine."

Just how wide could that smirk get? He gave a low, sweeping bow, and said, "Izaya Orihara, informant from Shinjuku."

My eyes widened. Here I was, in a metropolis I knew next to nothing about, wondering how on Earth I was going to find my father in this overpopulated country, and an informant walks right up to me?

Well, technically he chased and threatened me, but still.

He seemed to notice my sudden interest, eyes sparkling in amusement as he asked, "oh? Have you heard of me?"

I snorted, then returned his amused expression with a similar one. "I haven't actually, sorry to disappoint you, but I could use some information."

He raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at my worn and dirty clothes. "I highly doubt you have the money to pay me for it."

"You wanted to catch me to find out why I'm here and who I am, right?" I asked, and he looked a little surprised that I'd figured that out. I hadn't the faintest idea why. He was an informant, after all. Assuming he was telling the truth. Of course he'd want to know about me. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know about me in exchange for the information I need." I still didn't know how they knew about me at all, but I doubted the trackers would risk my existence becoming public knowledge, so I could wait to have that question answered. However he'd found out about me, the trackers hadn't been the ones to tell him.

His surprise was replaced once again by his almost child-like smirk. "You're not too bad at this game, are you? Alright, though I'm sure we'd all prefer to go somewhere more comfortable to chat." He didn't wait for a comment before turning to the dullahan. "Mind giving her a ride to my office?" he tilted his head back to me, though he was still talking to her as he added, "I'm guessing someone other than us is after her, and the subway would give her too much exposure; isn't that right, Edna?"

That look he was giving me clearly said, "what do you think of that? You're not the only one with powers of deduction."

I returned his smile with one of my own. Did he really think I'd want information from him if he couldn't figure out something that obvious?

His smile only widened at the sight of mine.

The dullahan nodded to him, then walked over to me. A helmet made of shadow appeared in her hands and she handed it to me. I looked it over for a moment, then glanced back to her.

"Where's your head?" I asked. I'd never seen a dullahan up close before, but I knew that headless didn't mean no head at all. I highly doubted she'd put it under her helmet.

'I lost it,' was all she said, then she turned back toward her bike, which I had to admit was a clever disguise for a headless horse. I took a deep breath and followed her to the bike. I wasn't really comfortable riding with her, but it had been years since I was comfortable with much of anything. Things could definitely be worse.

"See you in Shinjuku, Edna-san! Don't run off on me!" Izaya called, jogging out to the street with a cheerful wave. He locked eyes with me for a moment, then he was around the corner and out of sight.

I gazed after him for a moment, then slipped on the helmet.

* * *

A dull anger had been burning in my chest since the previous afternoon.

I puffed at my cigarette, my back pressed against a concrete wall next to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space. I still had a few hours before I had to work, so I was using the time to just relax and think. I might have even been feeling peaceful, if not for the flea occupying my thoughts.

I'd been chasing him out of Ikebukuro fairly regularly the last couple of months; I had a feeling he'd been getting bored. But no matter how much his presence in 'Bukuro infuriated me, it wasn't exactly what was bothering me. The problem was that I'd managed to actually hit him last time. That alone was rare enough. But even after that, he hadn't stuck around to taunt me or try to slash me to pieces to get back at me for injuring him. He hadn't been too injured to fight, so why did he run? He'd seemed... distracted, almost. Izaya was never distracted.

I started to feel the anger building in my chest and I did my best to squash it before it got out of hand.

"Excuse me, are you Heiwajima Shizuo-san?"

I glanced to my left to see two people, a man and a woman, standing a half a dozen feet away and looking at me with interest. They weren't Asian, but they didn't seem to be tourists either, and the man had spoken in well-accented Japanese.

"And who might you be?" I asked. It was so unusual for someone to walk up to me and actually try to be civil that I couldn't help but be curious.

The woman waved a hand in dismissal. "No one important. We're in Japan on a business trip, but we heard about an urban legend here in Ikebukuro that was too interesting to pass up."

Screw curiosity; these people were annoying me. I didn't appreciate being called an urban legend.

But she wasn't referring to me. "Apparently there's supposed to be a woman who rides around the city on a silent black motorcycle," she said. "A black motorcycle without headlights or sounds of an engine."

I raised an eyebrow. They were curious about Celty? I couldn't remember anyone ever coming to me about her before. I took a deep puff of my cigarette. "What about her?" I asked when the woman didn't say anything else.

The man spoke up this time. "We asked around; apparently she spends a lot of time with a certain tall blond-haired man by the name of Heiwajima Shizuo who tends to wear bartender suits." My eyebrow twitched as the man chuckled at the description. The humor didn't seem to be directed at me, but I still felt irked. Not to mention that these two were starting to make me uneasy. Everything about this situation felt off.

"We saw you here and couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask about her," the man continued. "Are you friends with her?"

I decided to tell them as little as I could without avoiding their questions. "I talk to her occasionally." I said simply. I didn't feel like talking much anyway. They were interrupting my moment of relative peace.

"Could you tell us about her?" the woman asked.

I shrugged. "Anything she's told me about her I doubt she'd want me relaying to just anyone who happens to be curious," which was true enough, I supposed, though she'd been a lot less hesitant when telling people about herself recently.

"That's understandable. Do you have a way for us to contact her?"

"Again, I doubt she'd want me giving that information away." I said, then to hopefully end the conversation, since I was really starting to get irritated, I added, "though the next time I see her I'll let her know you were wanting to talk. Do you have a business card I can pass on to her?"

"Unfortunately, no, although if you could give her this," the man pulled a folded sheet of paper out of a pocket and handed it to me, "we would appreciate it."

I glanced at the paper before shoving it into a pocket, unfolded. "I'll give it to her." The two bowed and I gave them a polite nod in return.

"We thank you for your time, Heiwajuma-san. We hope to run in to you again soon."

I wasn't sure if anyone had ever said something like that to me before. Did they even know who I was, other than my name?

I gave them another nod, then leaned back against the wall behind me as I watched them walk away. Why would they want to know about Celty? They didn't look like the kind of people who would ask just out of curiosity.

Maybe I was just over thinking it.

Or maybe Izaya had gotten tired of being bored and started something. I growled around my cigarette, then realized I'd be throwing things soon if I didn't find something to occupy myself.

With an irritable sigh, I stuck my hands in my pockets and marched off to find some lunch.

* * *

**_Author's Comments:_**

Gah, Shizuo's part was giving me a hard time. I can't figure out how he thinks. Is everyone still mostly in character?

Next chapter will be up in just a couple of days, to make up for the long gap between the last one and this one. ^^'

**_Replies to Reviews:_**

nA-chan525: Thank you! Glad you like it. And I'll try to finish it. I'm still having a lot of fun writing it, so there's hope!

LaughingDjinn: That's good, I'm glad they don't seem OOC. That's been worrying me a bit. And Izaya will have a manipulative phase eventually, he's just getting his facts straight first.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Comments:**_

Eeeek! Sorry I didn't post this early like I wanted to. College finals and a badly-planned first draft of this chapter made it take longer. But those are just excuses! At least this chapter is longer.

I only went over it a couple of times, since I wanted to get it up before I went to bed, so there might be a few more typos than usual. Feel free to point them out if you see them.

Reviews are wonderful, by the way. They keep me writing. I love them just as much as Izaya loves ootoro.

Anyway, stop reading my comments and go read the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara! or any of it's characters. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and for that of others.

* * *

_**Chapter 5:**_

We pulled up in front of a large semi-modern building after about fifteen minutes. I slipped off of the dullahan's motorcycle-horse and walked over to the shade of the entranceway, relieved to be on my own two feet again.

I watched the dullahan give her bike a soft pat on the handle bars, before she got off and walked over to me. She started typing something on her PDA and I glanced at it when she held it up for me to read.

'Before we go up to Izaya's office, I need to warn you about him.'

"Fine," I said, frowning a little. Even without these new warnings, I was still quite uncomfortable with the whole situation. Having what seemed to be a civil and somewhat polite conversation with a dullahan who wasn't trying to kill me was not something I'd ever expected to be doing, especially after the trackers had started hunting me. It was sort of ironic how something like this had become less possible _after_ I'd discovered fae were real.

"Can we at least go inside, though?" I asked, instinctively shrinking into the shadows a little more. "I don't like being out in the open like this."

She nodded, then moved ahead and opened the door, walking inside. Once we were inside and out of the doorway, she turned to me again and moved her hand in a lazy gesture. The shadow helmet around my head dissipated; it'd been so weightless I'd almost forgotten it was there.

She leaned back against the wall and started typing. 'First of all, everything Izaya does is purely for his own entertainment.' the dullahan flashed the PDA at me, letting me read it, before she pulled it back. I moved to her side so I could read as she typed.

'You guessed right about him wanting to find out about you,' she continued, 'but it's more because he finds you entertaining than because of his job as an informant.'

"Finding me entertaining is a lot better than wanting me dead," I muttered to myself, quietly. Not quietly enough, though; I noticed the dullahan stiffen as she typed a hurried 'What?' in large font.

"Can he be trusted?" I asked, ignoring her question.

Her fingers hovered over the keys for a minute, shadows dancing across the screen. "It depends," she said, typing slowly. "I've never known him to lie when paid for information, but he'll often give information to two opposing groups of people at once. He creates lies and conflict by giving the right people the right facts. He enjoys observing people interact with each other. By giving you the truth he could actually be leading you into a trap. "

I already knew it was possible he'd sell information about me to the trackers if they came looking for it. If that was how you made your money and you had information that someone was willing to pay for, why refuse? Trying to get him to help me was still my best bet though; I just had to be careful what I told him.

"Do you think he's planning to do that with me?" I asked.

'He told me yesterday he didn't have any plans yet. I'm not sure whether to believe that or not.'

I sighed, leaning against the wall and looking up toward the ceiling. Back at the alley, when Izaya had caught my gaze as he jogged happily away, the gleam in his eyes had been challenging. Was he challenging me personally or the challenging the whole situation? Probably both.

Then again, I was dancing with fire too. Telling him about me was very risky, but I didn't have a whole lot of options. At least I was only dancing with it; he was jumping in head first.

I still couldn't believe he'd _laughed_ after my warning. Had he not been listening? Or did he simply have a death wish?

Somehow I doubted both of those possibilities.

Thinking of which, why hadn't the dullahan backed down either?

"So, dullahan," I started, my voice carefully free of assumptions. I didn't trust her, but I didn't want to sound disrespectful either. "I know what you are; do you know what I am?"

She was silent for a minute. 'Was my guess before wrong?'

"What do you think?"

Her fingers hesitated over the keypad for a moment, then she typed slowly, 'when someone isn't human, I can usually sense it, so long as they're not masters at hiding it, but I can't sense anything from you.' She cleared the screen and paused for a moment, before typing, 'but... Izaya is convinced you were involved in the train wreck yesterday, and there was a video...'

Suddenly wary, I slipped my hand into my pocket on instinct, fingers wrapped around my switchblade. Before she could type anything else, I asked, "and why does he think that?"

"I _know_ that, because this is Japan, and everyone has a cellphone. You should have expected someone to record your little stunt and post it all over the internet."

I leaped away from the dullahan and spun around, only recognizing the voice after I'd pulled out my blade and pointed it toward the man in the doorway.

Izaya's only reaction was to let out a soft chuckle as he looked me over with amusement. "You're a jumpy one, aren't you?"

I lowered the switchblade, but didn't fold it or put it away. I shot a glance over to the dullahan, who was still standing against the wall. I turned back to Izaya and asked carefully, "you're saying there's a video of me on the internet?"

I really did _not_ want to think of the implications of that.

He stretched his arms up above his head, smiling at the ceiling. "You're not getting more answers until I get to learn a few things about you."

I should have expected him to say that. "Fair enough; lead the way, then."

"Impatient, too..." he said softly, smiling as he walked over to the elevator. He glanced over his shoulder at the dullahan and asked, "You coming, courier?"

I looked over at the dullahan too, feeling conflicted. I wanted to know about her almost as much as Izaya apparently wanted to know about me. If she really didn't know what I was, that meant she wasn't with the trackers. If she wasn't with the trackers, why was she here? I had a really hard time believing she'd been in Tokyo for as long as she said. Fae didn't like to leave their homeland for long periods of time.

The dullahan took a few steps toward me and asked, "would you mind?"

Just the fact that she'd asked made me comfortable enough to let her listen in. "It's fine." I gave her a slight smile, then turned back to Izaya expectantly.

He only chuckled, stepping into the elevator as the doors opened, motioning for the dullahan and I to follow.

* * *

Izaya's office was sleek and professional, though quite a bit larger than I would have expected. There was a small kitchen across from the entryway, while the main room was split into a seating area complete with a TV, a waiting area, and a working area with a few oddly arranged desks and a computer. The wall facing the street was a row of floor to ceiling windows. As Izaya motioned us toward the seating area, I got a better look at the stairs that wound around the back of the room to a small indoor balcony overlooking the rest of the office; I could see a lot of bookshelves up there, but not much else.

Either Izaya had a lot of success as an informant or he got his money from less than honest sources. Both seemed equally likely. I kept my left hand on my switchblade, instinct keeping me cautious while within possible enemy walls.

"Sit, sit," Izaya said, motioning toward the L-shaped sofa across from the TV, smiling cheerfully as he never seemed to stop doing. "Tea, Edna?" he asked as he walked back toward the kitchen.

I figured accepting something to drink would be safe enough; he was too interested in me to poison me, and the trackers would never stoop to using poison. I'd have to check it for spells though. "Just water is fine," I said.

"Oh, but you must have tea! When in Japan, drink green tea, eat ootoro!"

"Ootoro?" I asked, not bothering to deny the tea a second time; he'd already started to make it.

He didn't answer, only hummed to himself as he got a pair of cups out of the cubbord.

I ignored him in return and glanced at the dullahan sitting a few feet away from me with a raised eyebrow, hoping she'd answer my question.

Her shoulders shook a bit, which I supposed was a chuckle. After a moment, she typed, 'Ootoro is also known as fatty tuna; it's his favorite food.'

So the first thing I learned about him other than his name, his profession, and how deceptive he could be, was his favorite food? I smiled a little at that; it would have become a chuckle if I'd been in the mood.

I decided to trust the dullahan for the time being. She was different from other fae; kind and almost human-like. For most fae that could be an act, but human-like for a dullahan was very hard to fake. Laughing, for one, took air, and without a head, a dullahan never breathed. She could have only learned laughter by being around humans for a while.

"Your name is Celty, right?" I asked.

She nodded. That was another thing that would be hard to fake; she must be quite used to wearing that helmet.

"So!" Izaya's cheerful voice made me turn to look at him as he set my tea down in front of me. "Where shall we start?" I gazed at the tea a little sadly, wondering how long it had been since I'd had green tea. Five, ten years, probably.

I shrugged then, picking up the small cup as I watched Izaya plop down on the shorter part of the L-sofa. "You're the informant," I said. "Name your terms and we'll see if I agree."

He cocked his head a little, smirking. "Hmm... how about ten questions, then I'll consider helping you.

I moved a couple of fingers around the edge of my tea cup, pretending to be enjoying the texture of the designs on the ceramic, but really feeling for manipulated energy. "Ten questions is quite a bit for just considering," I said, still looking at the tea. "Five questions; ask good ones and that's more than enough."

"Depends on what I think of your answers."

I moved my hand away from the cup, satisfied that it was safe, and took a sip. Too hot, but I couldn't deny I was quite thirsty. I took another careful sip, then put the cup down and leaned back, putting one hand back in my pocket with the switchblade. Izaya's smirk widened; he'd caught the movement.

"Still don't trust me?" he asked, a slight pout on his face.

"You don't trust me either," I eyed his own pocket with his own weapon pointedly. His smirk widened. Sighing, I got back on topic. "Do you think I'll try to lie to you?"

"Of course." he held his hands out in emphasis for a moment, before resting them on the back of the couch. I decided to ignore his smirk until it started reversing its current tendency.

"I doubt I could fool you," I said. "Also, if I could, it still wouldn't get me anywhere. The more you know about me, the more likely you'll be able to find what I'm looking for."

"All the more reason for me to ask more questions."

"All the more reason for you to ask the _right_ questions."

We stared at each other for a moment, then he laughed, sitting forward and putting his elbows on his knees. "You _are_ good at this. Seven questions then, and I'll hear out your request."

I doubted I'd get better than that. His eyes were saying "take it or leave it". I shrugged. "Fair enough, fire away."

"What are you?"

Not a bad start, but not very original. "I'm half fae, half human."

"Who is after you?"

"A group of five or six fae, specialized trackers, who would really like me better if I was dead."

"If you can teleport, like the video clip of you so clearly displays, why didn't you teleport when Celty and I were after you?"

I stared at him for a moment, not having expected that question, at least not yet and not worded quite that way. I'd hoped that the video had only caught me, and had managed to miss that particular event. So that was what he'd meant by 'little stunt'. My answer would probably answer more than one of his questions without him having to ask them. Smart of him.

"Two reasons," I began after a minute. "One, I'm not very good at it, so there's always a chance I'll fail and kill or injure myself. Two, that chance increases the more often I do it. If the two of you had gotten any closer to me I probably would have taken the risk."

He took a moment to think of the next question. "What are the differences between you and fae and you and humans?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You're getting close to cheating there; that's almost two questions." I was reluctant to answer; it would give him a good idea of what I was capable of. While I was confident I could get away from him if I really needed to, at least if Celty didn't interfere again, but it would make it harder.

His smirk had been mostly gone in exchange for a look of curious concentration, but my comment brought it back in full force. "Almost, but not quite."

I took another sip of my tea. It was cooler now, and I appreciated the liquid. It helped me think more clearly. "I don't know as many of the answers to that question as I would like, unfortunately. Most of what I know I've found out on my own. I learn faster than humans, and I have better memory. I'm faster and stronger. I have the same life span as humans, or at least one not very much longer. I heal much faster than humans. My senses are about equal to a human's. I have some of the inherent knowledge that fae have, but not all of it. I can't sense other fae, and they can't sense me." I chose to leave out the full extent of my magic abilities and my slightly enhanced eyesight. He could probably guess at both.

He chuckled. "Very interesting. I have to admit, I expected you to lie with that one."

I only smiled in return.

Izaya cocked his head at me for a minute, then looked over at Celty. "You have any questions for her?"

He was asking Celty if she wanted to ask me something? Definite surprise there. He was probably wondering if I'd respond differently to her than I would to him. He also likely had some idea what she wanted to ask, and it was something he also wanted to know. He wouldn't just give away one of his questions.

Celty was leaning forward, looking at the reflection of her helmet in the glass top of the coffee table. Deep in thought, probably, digesting what I was saying. 'Just ask your questions, Izaya,' she said, not looking up.

Izaya leaned back again, rubbing his hands together slowly. "Alrighty then. Let's see... why are these fae after you?"

I finished my tea and set the empty cup back on the table. "I'm not entirely sure. They want me dead because I'm half-fae; they didn't bother explaining the details before they started trying to kill me."

"Might it have something to do with one or both of your parents?"

I shrugged, rubbing my thumb over the scale-pattern on my switchblade. "My father was a changeling; I'm pretty sure that has something to do with it."

"A changeling, hmm? Interesting. Last question: Why did you decide to ask for my help?"

I gave a short, humorless laugh. I wasn't expecting that one, but I didn't at all mind answering. "It's the lesser of two evils, really. Even if you turn around and sell information about me to the trackers, I'm a lot safer here than on the streets. And I highly doubt you could find out anything about me that they don't already know, anyway."

"Doubting my abilities, are you?"

"Not at all, there's simply nothing more for them to know about me."

"I think I could find something."

"Go ahead and try."

He chuckled. "Is that a challenge?"

"Perhaps a challenge for your sanity, which I'm seriously questioning as it is. You're acting like your life isn't at risk here."

"I'm pretty sure everyone questions my sanity." Izaya smiled cheerfully. "but few humans are entirely sane."

True, but I had a feeling he was a little more lacking in sanity than most people. "If the fae find out you're helping me, you're dead."

"We all need a little excitement in our lives, don't you agree?"

"Not really, no."

He sighed, looking disappointed, then he cheered up again, that challenging glint back in his eyes. "I bet I can change your mind."

This guy was having far too much fun. "You've asked your questions," I said pointedly, hoping to get back to a meaningful conversation.

"Yes yes, go ahead with your request, if you must." He picked up his tea and looked at it with a pout. He muttered something in Japanese to himself, my name mixed in somewhere. He was talking to his tea. Yep, this guy was weird.

I gripped my switchblade tighter. It had comforted me all these months, helped me remember that a peaceful life was possible. It was sort of ironic, I supposed, that my weapon reminded me of peace.

Taking a deep breath, I said simply, "I need you to find my father."

* * *

**_Author's Comments:_**

I had a hard time finding places for Izaya-moments. Hopefully he's in character.

**_Replies to Reviews:_**

Aviantei: Thank you for the nice long review! I agree, finding IzayaxOC stories is hard. I don't mind all the Shizaya, and I quite like some of it, but this fandom really needs a change of pace. I'm glad you like the OC so far; they can be hard to keep from becoming mary-sues. I hope the plot does turn out interesting. It's slowly coming together, and I'm liking it so far. And yeah, I tend to switch between characters when writing in both first and third person. Hopefully it won't get too confusing.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Comments:**_

I'm starting to figure out the plot! *runs in happy circles*

I'm also starting to bring in a few more elements from the light novels. There'll be more stuff from the novels than I originally planned, I think, though most of the story is still based on anime canon. For now I'll say most of the events of book 4 have taken place in this version of the Durarara! world.

Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara! or any of it's characters. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and for that of others.

* * *

_**Chapter 6:**_

I raised an eyebrow at her simple phrase. "Your father, hmm?" My interest piqued, I stood and moved over to the computer, sipping at my tea. "Name? Appearance? Do you have any idea where he is?"

Edna was following close behind me. Her footsteps were quiet despite the hard soles of her shoes. "Gavin Finley, light brown hair—he always kept it fairly short—, about five-foot-eight, medium-build, dark green eyes. All I know is he's in Japan."

I sat in my swivel chair and hit the computer's power button to wake it up from hibernation. "That's a lot of people to sift through. I'll need more payment if you want me to find him."

"So you're accepting the job?"

"For now. We'll see how the game plays out."

"You see this as a game?"

My brow furrowed a little at the sound of something like pity in her voice. I clicked on an internet browser icon, then spun around to face her, my smirk back in place. "You know, most people would have taken that as a metaphor."

"True, and most people would have meant it as a metaphor, but you're having far too much fun with this. You meant it literally."

I spread out my arms and spun the chair around once. "Life is but a stage, Edna."

Her nose wrinkled.

I stopped the chair and leaned forward, quirking my eyebrows. "Oh? Not a fan of Shakespeare, I take it?"

"Not particularly."

"But he was a master at picking apart the human mind! He understood human actions and how people react to and deal with their emotions."

"I suppose so, but only if you assume that all humans are prone to nervous breakdowns." I laughed, but she continued, unperturbed. "Not all humans will succumb to greed and jealousy, or even manipulation, like his characters do."

Still chuckling, I turned back to the computer. "Humans are more easily manipulated than you think."

"Perhaps; I admit to not having much experience with them recently."

I sensed that her response was meant to end that conversation, and I let it go for the moment. I typed in the address for Tsukumoya's chatroom. He knew more about the current happenings of Tokyo and might not be much help for finding Edna's father, but he might know something about the faeries that were apparently running around. Plus, I was curious how much he knew about the situation as a whole, as well as Edna.

_**Orihara Izaya: **_Hello, Tsukumoya.

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi:**_ Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up, welcome, welcome.

Well, he knew enough to be expecting me, apparently.

_**Orihara Izaya:**_ Skip the introductions. I'm wondering if you've heard of any foreigners searching for someone around Tokyo in the last couple of days.

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi:**_ Foreigners, you say? There were a pair, a man and a woman, asking about Celty earlier today.

Celty? I glanced over at the dullahan still sitting on the couch, then turned my attention back to the screen as another message popped up.

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi: **_They eventually spoke with Heiwajima Shizuo; that was about forty-five minutes ago.

Ugh, Shizu-chan. I grunted in annoyance as I typed out a response.

_**Orihara Izaya:**_ Interesting. Not the information I was expecting.

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi: **_Ah, so you have some information already. Care to share?

I chuckled.

_**Orihara Izaya: **_I think not.

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi:**_ Not as if I expected it.

_**Orihara Izaya: **_Do you have descriptions of the two foreigners?

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi:**_ Just a moment.

"Who are you talking to?"

I glanced back at Edna and noticed she'd made herself rather comfortable on my desk. I looked pointedly from her to the abused piece of furniture, and said flatly, "My desk is not a chair."

She inclined her head. "Obviously; however I have a better view of the computer screen here, and you've claimed the only chair in the immediate vicinity."

"You won't get much from looking over my shoulder if you don't understand Japanese."

"I understand a little, and I'm learning more by the minute. So who are you talking to?"

Learning more by the minute, eh? Teaching her Japanese might be an interesting test of her abilities. I turned back to the screen. "Tsukumoya Shinichi; he's a bit of an online enigma, and very useful for obtaining information about the recent happening in and around Tokyo."

"So what are you asking him about?"

"The fae that are tracking you."

"That's not what I asked you to find."

I put on a mildly insulted expression as I glanced back at her. "I'm trying to get a sense of what the fae are up to. Contrary to what you seem to believe, I do have some sense of self-preservation."

She smiled unexpectedly. "You haven't given me much reason to believe that, but I'm glad to hear it."

I opened my mouth to respond to that, but a beep from the computer made me glance back to it. "Edna, do these descriptions sound familiar?" I asked, then read off the descriptions Tsukumoya had provided. "A tall woman with long dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a man of about the same height with short red-brown hair and golden-brown eyes. Neither looks at all Japanese, but both speak the language flawlessly."

She looked at me with hard eyes for a moment, then let out a long sigh through stiff jaws. "Not the most specific descriptions, but the woman could be the leader of the trackers and the man her second-in-command. What about them?"

In answer I leaned back in my chair and looked over at Celty. "Courier! Seems like the fae are looking for you; might want to keep an eye out."

I saw Celty visibly stiffen as she typed out a shaky, 'what?' in the largest font possible.

I twirled once in my chair and called back, "just what I said!" then turned back to the computer screen.

_**Orihara Izaya:**_ Ah, that's useful. Have they been searching for anyone else?

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi:**_ Might you be referring to the person in that video circulating around the internet?

_**Orihara Izaya:**_ Perhaps.

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi:**_ I haven't heard anything to indicate they are looking for her, no.

I noticed the 'her' he'd slipped in there. The video had been low enough quality that identifying gender was impossible. So he knew the person in the video was a woman. I was curious how he knew, but I didn't feel like pursuing the offered bait. He was probably trying to see if I'd question it, which would hint at how much I knew.

_**Orihara Izaya: **_Then that's all I need from you for now.

_**Tsukumoya Shinichi:**_ Normal payment, if you would be so kind. I look forward to our next chat.

The feeling was not mutual, though I was polite enough with Tsukumoya to keep that opinion to myself. Not like he didn't know my opinion already. His own comment was half-sarcastic, I knew; he only looked forward to the chance to best me.

I closed out of the chat and went to a people-search website.

"So what else did you find out?" Edna asked.

"The fae seem to be concentrating on finding Celty, right now. Maybe they heard about her and decided finding you could wait; I'm sure the presence of a dullahan in Tokyo is surprising to them, unless they already know she's here, of course."

I caught the sound of Celty's typing and I glanced over to read her message.

'I doubt it. I didn't speak with or see any other fae after my head was stolen. No one knew I left Ireland.'

"They do have some sort of societal structure though, don't they?" I asked. "They would notice your absence and wonder where you ran off to."

To my surprise, Edna spoke up before Celty had typed a response. "Not necessarily," she said softly. "Dullahan are usually left outside of faerie social circles. Other fae generally only contact a dullahan when their help is desperately needed, which isn't often. A missing dullahan could probably go unnoticed for a few decades."

"I'd think you wouldn't know much about faerie social circles."

Edna shrugged. "I learned as much as I could about dullahan. But, getting back on topic, I highly doubt they'd abandon the search for me just to investigate the presence of an unexpected faerie. They probably think they can get Celty's assistance or find me through her in some way."

I glanced at Celty to see if she'd respond to that. She just sat silently, looking at the reflection of her helmet in the coffee table again, so I turned back to the computer. I typed in the name of Edna's father in the people-search website, just in case. Nothing came up, like I'd expected. "Do you have any idea how long your father has been in Japan?" I asked.

"A couple of months, I think."

"Is he on the run too?"

"Possibly, but I doubt it. His movements are too regular."

I turned half around and raised an eyebrow. "He's moving around a lot?" I asked, an idea forming in my mind.

"He's been to eight other countries before Japan."

"And how long has he been in each?"

She gave me a dry look. "Stop beating around the bush, will you? Yes, he's been hopping between the countries where a visa isn't required for the first three months."

I blinked, mildly surprised that she'd guessed what I was getting at, then smirked. Before I could say anything, though, Celty's phone gave a short ring. Both Edna and I glanced over as Celty read the text message she'd received.

After a moment she stood and typed out a message for us. 'I need to go.'

"Does Shizu-chan want to meet with you?" I asked, feeling giddy in anticipation of her response.

Her helmet whipped around to face me and she typed quickly, 'how did you know?'

I shook a finger at her. "Secrets of an informant, miss courier. Let him know I'll be paying Ikebukuro another visit soon, will you?"

'I'm not even going to ask you not to.' she said, then turned to Edna. 'Thank you for letting me listen in. Will you be wanting to stay with my roommate and I?'

I opened my mouth to say what should have been obvious to her, but Edna beat me to it.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? If the fae are looking for you it would just put me and you and your roommate in more danger."

Celty held the PDA half-extended for a moment, her helmet turned toward me. 'But Izaya is...' she held the half-message out to Edna.

I smirked. "What? Scared I'll turn her in to the fae?"

Celty's shoulders drooped in what I supposed was a sigh.

Edna looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You don't mind me staying with you?"

"Mind it?" I leaned back and threw my feet up onto the desk. "I would love the opportunity to get to know you."

Edna bumped her knee into my ankles as she looked at me, her eyes flickering a little playfully. "Your desk is not a foot rest."

I'd known this girl for all of an hour, and she was already proving to be quite entertaining.

While I was caught up in giggles, Edna turned back to the courier and said softly, "Thanks for worrying, Celty, but I'm fine staying with him. I can take care of myself."

Celty gave a short, silent chuckle. 'I'm sure you can. I'll see you around, then.'

Edna gave a nod, while I gave a cheerful wave.

As soon as Celty closed the front door behind her, I got up and walked over to the window. I couldn't see Ikebukuro from my office, which was the only con of the place, but I looked in the direction of the city anyway. Finally! Finally, something was happening again. I was taking a risk getting involved in this, surely, but I'd been too bored lately to pass this up. Playing with the emotions of everyday people couldn't keep me entertained forever. With Edna came an opportunity for human observation that I hadn't really thought of before. She was half-human, half-fae, a mix of species, a mix of cultures, a whole new way to experience humanity.

Oh yes; this was a game I had to play,

* * *

**_Author's Comments:_**

I feel like any writing I do in Izaya's point of view will be horribly inferior to what Miss Trouillefou has pulled off in The Catalyst. That fic has the best Izaya POV I've seen.

That said, this chapter was a lot of fun to write. 8D

Oh, and to anyone who has read the novels, is Hijiribe Ruri half or a quarter non-human? I've read the translation of book 4 and I thought it indicated she was a fourth, but then I see other things saying she's half. So, if you have any idea, I'd love to know (since she'll probably be making a few appearances in this fic).

**_Replies to Reviews:_**

Aviantei: Haha, I'm a bit OCD about characters being in-character too. I'm glad you think I'm doing well with Izaya though! You're working on your own IzayaxOC fic? I look forward to reading it. :)

echo-in-the-dark: Yeah, Edna isn't the type to drool over much of anything (well, except for fiddles, flutes, and bagpipes, but that's another chapter). Thanks for the compliment on my writing; I've been feeling like my writing has been deteriorating over the past year or so, so that's encouraging. And don't worry, Izaya shall get his butt kicked. 8D


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Comments:**_

Gah, this chapter was bugging me. I like the first part, I'm okay with the second part, and I don't like the last part much because it was rushed, since I really wanted to get this chapter up before I have to sleep (which I should have been doing about two hours ago... oops).

SHIZUO WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN HARD FOR ME TO WRITE?

*sigh*

Oh, and college starts again for me tomorrow (well, today really, since I'm posting this at 3:00 AM). I've only got one class, but it still takes up a decent chunk of my time. Updates may be a little slower. Not that they've been particularly regular anyway, but still.

Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara! or any of it's characters. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and for that of others.

* * *

_**Chapter 7:**_

I sent Izaya a dull glare as he spun on his feet by the window. He was happy, apparently, excited even, both of which I wasn't. I had a feeling he wasn't on the losing end of life very often, and all of the success had apparently gotten to his head.

Time for me to make a point.

Walking over to him, I aimed my palm at the back of his head. He caught my reflection in the window, as I knew he would, and he turned to catch my wrist. I deftly moved my other hand in and out of his coat pocket, slipping his flick blade up my sleeve.

He smirked at me, red-tinted eyes sparking in amusement. I gazed at them for a moment, wondering at their color. Humans didn't have red eyes, unless they were fully albino; I wouldn't be surprised if this man had some non-human blood mixed in somewhere, though not nearly as much as me.

I felt a little less lonely at the thought.

Izaya shook a finger at me, clicking his tongue. "And I thought you said you were faster than humans, Edna," he said, sounding almost disappointed, then dropped my wrist and slipped his hands into his pockets.

I hopped up onto the desk again as his eyes widened slightly, his hands grasping for the missing weapon. The trick had worked; one of the simplest tricks I could have used to snatch his flick blade, and it had worked.

I sighed sadly as I let his flick blade slip out of my sleeve and into my hand. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, Izaya." I held the blade up for a moment, tilting it so it caught the sunlight, then tossed it back.

He caught it easily and turned away from me, going back to his swivel chair. "And you, Miss Finley, have no idea who you're dealing with," he said.

"I don't know much about you, true, but our situations are entirely different, which renders that argument useless."

"What were you trying to prove by taking my blade anyway?" he asked, leaning back in his chair as he turned to face me, "that you could beat me in a fight? I'm not too sure you could." He was frowning, the first time I'd seen him do so.

"Basically, yes." I said, and he raised his eyebrows. "Tell me; how much have you seen of what Celty is capable of?"

He scoffed, "not as much as I'd like."

Now I had to raise my eyebrows. I wanted to ask about that response, but it would get us off topic, if he was even willing to answer. I suspected he wasn't. Either way, he didn't seem much in the mood to chat anymore, so I decided to drop the conversation altogether. I had to think when talking to this guy and I was too tired for much more of that. I needed sleep.

I spun around on his desk and hopped off the other side, walking over to the couch. "I'm going to take a nap."

There was a moment of silence. "You're going to let your guard down around me already? I thought you said you didn't trust me."

I kicked my shoes off and laid back on the couch. "You're the closest thing I've had to an ally in nearly a year, Izaya. If I'm safe anywhere, it's here."

He didn't answer right away after that, and if he ever gave a response, I was asleep before he did.

* * *

Shizuo had said he'd be waiting for me in East Ikebukuro Cental Park. Usually we just happened across each other, and when we met up intentionally it was generally in West Gate Park, so the location had surprised me. I hadn't questioned it though; Shizuo probably had a reason. He hadn't said anything about what he wanted to talk to me about in his text, but if Izaya had known about it, it probably wasn't good.

I spotted the blond mop of hair over by the fountain and found a place to park Shooter—legally, since I'd been trying to obey the law recently. Shooter nickered, apparently pleased with my efforts. I thanked him with a pat on the handlebars, then walked over to Shizuo.

He glanced up and gave me a lazy wave as I took a seat next to him on the stone bench. "Yo, Celty; you took a while to get here. Were you on a job?"

'I was just finishing one when you texted,' I said, not wanting to go into details with Shizuo. He'd probably get too angry at the mention of Izaya to explain his original reason for wanting to talk to me. 'So why did you ask me out here?' I asked.

"A couple of foreigners were asking about you earlier," he said, which made me stiffen a little. "They said they'd heard rumors about you and were curious," he continued, "so apparently they asked around and heard that I was friends with you. They saw me in West Gate Park and asked about you."

'I'd think they would have heard even more about you than me,' I typed out half-consciously. I was busy trying to think through what he'd said. They must have been fae, if they'd been brave enough to ask Shizuo.

He grunted, mumbling around his cigarette. "Yeah, I'd think so too, which made me curious. The two of them just didn't feel right, though. Oh," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to me, "they asked me to give you this."

I hesitated for a moment before I took it. There was no magic on it, at least nothing I could detect, so I unfolded it carefully. There was a sentence of about a dozen words written in the center in neat hand writing, the kind of practiced sweeping script you might see on old letters. It wasn't Japanese, though it was a language I recognized. Unfortunately, though, it wasn't one I understood anymore.

"What language is that?" Shizuo asked, looking at the paper with a confused expression.

My shoulders drooped a little as I typed. 'It's Gaelic. I can't understand it without my head, though.'

"Gaelic... that old language they speak in Ireland and Scotland, right?"

'And Nova Scotia, yes.'

"So these people are from one of those places?"

I folded the paper slowly and slipped it up my sleeve before replying. 'Yes, and I'm pretty sure they're fae, like me. Not many people speak Gaelic anymore.'

"Fae? And you know that just because you know they speak Gaelic?"

I fidgeted uncomfortably; I wasn't going to lie to him, but he was never happy when he learned of me doing anything for Izaya. I explained the situation briefly to him, though I left out anything that would make Shizuo too angry or worried, like the warning Edna had given us. I wanted to warn him to stay away from the fae, but if he thought the situation was dangerous enough, he'd run over to Izaya's office in Shinjuku looking for a fight. Or worse, he'd try to find the fae and fight them himself. Shizuo might be able to take on one, maybe even two, but only assuming the others weren't proficient in magic. I had a feeling at least one of these were.

Shizuo's brows were creased by the time I finished. He crossed his arms and looked over at the quiet water fountain across from us, probably trying to let the sound calm his nerves. After a moment, he let out a loud sigh and took a long drag on his cigarette. "I was wondering about Izaya today. I managed to hurt him last night, but he didn't stick around to try to get me back. Makes me worry that he's planning something again."

I didn't really have anything to say to that, so I just nodded a little. After a few moments of silence, I asked, 'do you work today?'

He gave a curt nod. "In about an hour." He paused, then looked curiously at my wrist, where he'd probably seen me hide the paper. "How are you going to find out what that note says?"

'I'm not sure,' I said, not looking up as I slumped a little in my seat.

He seemed contemplative as he continued to look at the hidden note. I was just about to ask what was up, when he said thoughtfully, "What about that half-fae girl... Edna, was it?"

I started to type something to the effect of 'that's highly unlikely', only to realize it might not be. Edna had said she had some of the inherent knowledge that fae had; Gaelic most definitely was part of that, though it might not be a piece she had. 'You're right, why didn't I think of that? There's a good chance she doesn't speak Gaelic, but it's worth a shot.'

The crease in Shizuo's brow deepened. "If you're going to start texting Izaya, I'm going to leave. I'll start throwing things if I stick around."

I hesitated; I probably shouldn't let it wait, but I didn't want to force Shizuo away, and I didn't particularly want to deal with the note yet anyway. In just a couple of hours, there had been a lot of information to take in and just as many things to worry about. 'No, it can wait a little while,' I said. 'Besides, I need to relax a bit. It hasn't been an easy day so far.'

His honey-brown eyes looked into the visor of my helmet, as if he was searching the eyes I didn't have. "You're not putting it off because you feel guilty that I'd have to leave, are you?" he asked.

I shook my helmet. 'No, of course not,' I said, then wilted a little. 'Well, that's one reason, but it's fine, honestly. I really do need to relax for a while. I should probably text Shinra, though. I've been gone for two hours now; he's probably tearing his hair out.'

Shizuo gave a short laugh, a huff of air more than anything, and smiled a little. "It's a miracle he's not bald yet."

I chuckled as I switched my phone from PDA mode to texting mode.

Shizuo sighed a little then and turned his gaze back to the water. After a moment, he pulled his spent cigarette from his mouth and dropped it onto the cobble stones, grinding it out with his heel. "Sorry," he muttered quietly, his smile gone.

I wanted to reject his unnecessary apology, but I knew it wouldn't make him feel any better, so I just gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

* * *

I was a little surprised to receive a text from Celty only two hours after she'd left. I briefly wondered if the fae had found her already, though I quickly decided that was unlikely. In two hours she'd probably just met up with Shizu-chan and had their chat. I had a feeling two hours wouldn't be enough for an encounter with the fae.

Unless she'd had to run from them. That would be an interesting development, though a little too early in the game for my tastes.

That didn't appear to be the case though; the message just asked if Edna was available to talk.

I glanced over at the still sleeping young woman. The top of her head was facing me, so I could only see her hair and her feet from my angle. I could wake her up—which would probably elicit an amusing reaction from her—but that would be more of an interruption of my research than I cared for just then.

'No, she's sleeping,' I typed back, 'and I'm not in the mood to wake her up.'

Celty sent back a message almost instantly. 'Any idea when she'll wake up?'

'No, though probably not for a while.'

Her next text took a little longer. 'Let me know when she wakes up; it's somewhat urgent.'

Somewhat urgent? Just what had the fae talked to Shizu-chan about? The urge to find out almost made me reconsider waking Edna, but I still decided against it. 'Hmm... if only somewhat, you can wait a few hours. She and I will be in Ikebukuro tonight. You can talk to her then.'

Another pause. 'Fine. Let me know when and where.'

I put my cellphone down and went back to my research. Come to think of it, I needed to get Edna a cellphone. I doubted she had one, and as much as I liked the idea of all contact with her having to go through me, I was pretty sure it would get tiring after a while.

Did she even know how to use a cell phone? I was pretty sure she'd been out of the technological loop for a while, though I didn't know for sure how long. She'd hinted at about year; that seemed likely.

Hmm... what color phone should she have? Pink? Purple? Somehow I didn't see the feminine colors working with her. Her coat was thick and dark green, her shirt was dark gray, and her pants were brown. Nah, all too dull. Her eyes were blue-gray; that could work, but finding a phone that color would be difficult.

"Edna Finley," I mumbled, rolling the name around in my mouth, getting a feel for it. An idea struck me. Chuckling, I turned my full attention back to the computer.

Names really are fascinating things.

* * *

**_Author's Comments:_**

By the way, the place Celty and Shizuo met up appears several times in the series. The only occurrence I remember for sure is where Celty spots Mikado sitting alone and goes to talk to him. That's the same bench and fountain that's in this chapter. Is that even called a fountain? I know there's another less-specific word for that, but I couldn't remember it. Water fixture? But that makes me think of something small inside a building. I don't know. Fountain works, I guess.

**_Replies to Reviews:_**

Aviantei: Indeed, Izaya is fun to write. Mood swings, random thoughts, and a bit of insanity. Lol, stalkers. Hmm... makes me wonder how Namie might interact with them... I actually haven't considered that yet. *is attacked by dozens of little plot bunnies*


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Comments:**_

I'm so sorry this took me so long! And now I have to go and tell you I'll be on vacation for two weeks and likely unable to update. *mumbles a zillion incoherent apologies* Will try to have a few chapters to post when I get back (no promises though... when I promise something it tends to stop it from happening).

This chapter was really bugging me, but I'm fairly happy with it now. It's not as long as I'd hopped, though. *is sorry again*

Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara! or any of it's characters. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and for that of others.

* * *

_**Chapter 8:**_

"Shiro-chan! Wakey wakey!"

I frowned a little as I crawled my way out of unconsciousness and cracked open an eye. Izaya was leaning over me, looking far too cheerful, his hands clasped behind his back.

Sighing, I shoved him away and sat up. "What's with the nickname?" I asked, glancing out the windows as I did. The sun was low; I'd slept for several hours. The nap had taken the edge off of my exhaustion, but I was still very tired.

"From your last name, since your first is rather boring," he said, dropping into a chair and leaning over a chess board that now sat on the coffee table. "The Scottish last name Finley, derived from the Irish and Scottish first name Fionnlagh, meaning 'white warrior'," he continued. "White in Japanese is Shiro, therefore, Shiro-chan."

I grunted, but didn't comment. I wasn't particularly fond of the name, but it might be useful for him to call me something other than my real name. You never know who might be listening.

I stood, stretched a little, then moved over to him to get a better view of the chess board. He was using pieces from Chess, Othello, and Shogi, on a Go board. It had been a long time since I'd played any of the four games, but I could still recognize the pieces.

He had the white queen in the center, a challenging king and a gold general in the upper right corner, and a horse on the upper left corner, along with a castle two spaces to the right.

And other than the Othello pieces scattered around the board, the metaphors were obvious.

"You really do see this as a game, don't you?" I asked.

He picked up a pawn and turned it over in his fingers for a moment. "Didn't we already establish that?"

"Indeed, though I was reluctant to believe it. However," I reached over and picked up the black king, placing it next to the queen in the center, "if you're going to represent real life with game pieces you might as well represent it correctly."

He stared down at the king and queen for a moment, before leaning back and letting his red-brown eyes search my face. He smiled, bemused. "I think you're the first person who's gotten the connection so quickly."

I kept my eyes on the board, still examining it and the pieces sitting around it. "Really? How many people have seen it?"

"Up close? Shiki of the Awakusu-kai and my secretary, Namie Yagiri. Many people would consider Namie a genius, yet she didn't get it until she'd been working with me for a few months. So how could you tell, exactly?"

I shrugged and rested the tip of my index finger on the queen. "I'm at the center of this conflict, from your point of view, so it makes sense that the queen would represent me. Celty is a dullahan, and also an important person in your game so far, so the black knight obviously represents her. The challenging king and the gold general probably represent the leader of the trackers and her second in command. I can also assume that the castle is the 'Shizu-chan' you mentioned to Celty. The castle is two spaces closer to the fae, indicating that he's had some contact with them."

"I never said that Shizu-chan had contact with the fae."

I sat back down on the couch and rested my head against the back, closing my eyes. "Not specifically, no, but Celty was called away and you knew it was Shizu-chan who'd contacted her. The only information you'd gotten at that point was from that person you chatted with online, and you also got information about the fae trying to find Celty from him. I just put the pieces together."

He was silent for a few moments, then I heard him shift again, followed by the dull knock of wood against wood. He was moving pieces around. "So you intended the king to be me, yes?" he said thoughtfully. I cracked open an eye to see him holding said piece up at eye level, smiling a little. "It's true that I'm more involved than I usually am, but I'm still the one moving the pieces. Plus, the king is in too much danger, and he can't defend himself."

I decided not to point out that he _was_ in a lot of danger as well as practically defenseless against the fae. I figured if he hadn't gotten it yet, he wouldn't. "Why not make me the king, then?"

He only chuckled, and I didn't push for an answer.

"So why did you wake me up?" I asked, closing my eyes again.

"If you keep sleeping you'll throw off your body's internal clock."

"I'm pretty sure my internal clock is thoroughly shattered. I'd thank you for the concern anyway though, if that was actually the reason you woke me up."

Another chuckle. "You hungry?"

"Of course."

"Then let's go out for dinner!" He clapped his hands together as I heard him get up and walk over to his desks.

I stayed where I was. "I'd rather not leave here. It'd be safer for both of us if I'm out in the open as little as possible."

"Aww, but you're hungry! And Namie isn't here to cook for us."

My eyebrows rose, though my eyes stayed closed. "Your secretary cooks for you?"

"Indeed. I'd rather spend my time observing humans. By the way," I heard him walk over and I cracked open an eye again.

He was standing in front of me now, head cocked a little to the side, hands in the pockets of his fur-rimmed coat as he looked at me curiously.

"Where do you keep your stuff? You have other clothes and things, don't you?"

Sitting up, I unzipped my coat and pulled it open, displaying the long zippers on either side. "This way is a lot easier than a backpack. It distributes the weight evenly and allows greater movement."

He looked mildly surprised, maybe even impressed. "You've even managed to hide it, making it look like it's just a thick coat." He tapped a finger against his lower lip for a minute, then asked, "You said the fae can't sense you, right? That means the only ways they have to recognize you are your appearance and voice?"

I nodded.

"In that case, I have an idea." He smiled brightly and ran off up the stairs, returning a moment later with a two-toned dark gray hoodie with half-length sleeves.

I took it when he handed it to me, fixing him with a dry look. "You're not going to drop this, are you?"

"Nope!"

I was a little hesitant to be separated from my sparse belongings, but I had a feeling Izaya would threaten to stop helping me if I didn't go with him. Giving in, I slipped my own jacket off and replaced it with the hoodie. It felt weird to be wearing something different. I searched my own coat for a hair-tie, then slipped the hood over my hair once I'd pulled it back.

"If the fae show up, don't expect me to save you." I said. I couldn't make myself stop warning this guy; he was worryingly unafraid.

Izaya gave a little gasp. "So cruel, Shiro-chan!"

He wasn't very good at teasing. I sighed, slipping my shoes on, then walked toward the door. "Come on, let's go."

His only reaction was a light chuckle.

* * *

"See that girl over there?"

I followed Izaya's gaze to a teenage girl standing in the far corner of the train we were on. She was talking on her cell phone, brows creased, arms crossed.

"She's not too happy with her boyfriend, but she's putting up with him," Izaya said, smiling as he watched her. "It's probably past time she broke up with him, but she keeps thinking she'll give him one more chance."

He'd been doing this the entire train ride, pointing to different passengers and guessing at their personal lives. It bothered me a little, how he didn't seem to care about them as people, and just as interesting things to observe, but his enthusiasm made me smile, despite the pain that being on a train again was causing me.

I shrunk down a little in my seat, the hood falling lower over my eyes as I took a deep breath. When I looked up again, Izaya was watching me with sparkling eyes and a grin, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. I didn't doubt that he did.

"How old are you?" I asked, for conversation's sake. I was hesitant to talk too much, lest the fae be nearby and recognize my voice, but the memories were starting to catch up to me and I needed more of a distraction.

He snickered. "Is that a round-a-bout way of saying you think I'm childish?"

"I won't deny that, but mainly I'm just curious."

"I'm twenty-one."

I returned his gaze with a rather dry one. The gleam in his eyes was daring me to challenge him. "Not going to tell me, are you?"

"What? You don't believe me?"

"Your lies are rather obvious, or at least the ones you don't actually want me to believe." His grin became a smirk, and I sighed. The train's announcement system came on and I recognized enough Japanese to know Ikebukuro was the next stop. Izaya had mentioned that's where we were going.

I stood as the train started slowing down.

"Understood that, did you?" Izaya stood up behind me and put his hand above mine on the metal pole I was using to keep balance.

Once we got off the train I felt a little more relaxed. This was the part of Tokyo where the fae had been earlier that day, at least if I'd put the pieces together directly, but I still felt safer than I had in a while. Being in a coat they wouldn't recognize was a comfort I hadn't had in a long time. I only occasionally found new clothes to wear, and even then I'd always worn my coat.

I never let my guard down, but at least now I could try to enjoy life a little, if only for these few hours.

I was thankful to Izaya for giving me that chance.

It wasn't long before I caught sight of a large black man handing out pamphlets on a busy corner. Izaya saw him too and changed direction slightly to walk over to him.

"Yo, Simon."

The man stopped pushing what appeared to be a coupon on an unwilling pedestrian and turned to look at the much shorter Izaya. Their size difference was rather impressive.

"I-za-ya! Eat sushi? Sushi good."

I had to hide an amused smile by bringing a hand up to rub my nose. Simon was speaking Japanese, but it was so simple that I could understand most of it.

After Izaya responded, Simon turned his attention to me with a bright smile, but there was something else behind his cheerful expression. Warning? Caution? "Who is this?" he asked.

Izaya gave what sounded like an introduction, though he didn't offer my name, thankfully, either my real one or his nickname for me.

"Ah, you like sushi, yes?" Simon said to me. "Sushi good for body."

I disguised my growing amusement with a polite smile. "Yes, I like sushi."

Izaya seemed a little surprised that I'd responded in Japanese. After saying farewell, he gave a short wave and started walking toward the restaurant. I started to follow, but stopped when Simon called out to Izaya in what I recognized after a moment as Russian. Simon's voice was lower now and his expression quite serious.

Izaya glanced back over his shoulder, looking a little annoyed. He called back to Simon in the same language, then dropped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me through the doors. I raised my eyebrows at the contact, but didn't complain or comment.

Izaya said something to a gray-haired white man slicing fish behind the sushi bar, then led me up a narrow flight of stairs and into a small room with sliding doors and a low table in the center.

"Privite room, so you can stop worrying about the fae recognizing your voice," he explained, taking a seat and motioning for me to sit across from him.

I sat cross-legged on one of the cushions and ran my hand over the flimsy door material as he slid them closed. "These doors are far from soundproof," I pointed out.

He sighed, sticking out his lower lip in a pout. "Shiro-chan is depriving me of conversation."

I smiled a little. "So is there a menu for this place?"

He scoffed. "Menus are a lot less common in Japan than some other counties, especially in sushi restaurants. Private rooms are also uncommon, but this place doesn't really try to be Japanese," he scrunched up his face a little. "You'll have to hope Simon doesn't start forcing his special sets on us. I generally grab my ootoro and run, partially for that reason."

"So are you going to explain to me what they have or just order for me?"

He cocked his head a little in thought. "Hmm... you said you like sushi, yes? What kind?"

I shrugged. "It's been a long time, so anything is good. I just prefer not to eat roe, the large kinds especially."

He chuckled. "Does Shiro-chan feel sorry for the little baby fish?"

"A little, but really I'd just rather wait until they've actually got some meat on them. The meat tastes better."

"Well, that's most definitely true for ootoro. Which you're having, by the way, but I'll order a couple of other things too."

I couldn't help but smile at his happiness and enthusiasm. I was starting to wonder if I was more annoyed by or envious of his ability to be cheerful in the face of likely death. Although, he still probably didn't think death was going to happen for him.

I really hoped it wouldn't.

* * *

**_Author's Comments:_**

I love playing with names. 8D They say so much about the character. When I write my own characters I have to pick their name before I do anything else. The name creates the personality. I can really picture Izaya having fun with researching names, especially since he tends to give people nicknames. Speaking of Izaya's nicknames... I still can't figure out what Dotachin means.

That's the hoodie Izaya wears in Episode 12.5, by the way.

Oh Simon, you are so fun to write.

**_Replies to Reviews:_**

Aviantei: Hmm... I interpreted 'every other generation' as it being one of her grandparents, making her 1/4th. Gah, I'll just have her be 1/4th for this story. Works better for my idea for Ruri anyway. Thanks though. And thanks for the comments on every chapter!


End file.
